His teammates look up to the ailing Henrik Sedin, but you have to wonder if the Vancouver Canucks captain should be sitting instead of risking further injury to his ribs. (Getty Images via National Hockey League).

Three points to ponder as the battered and bruised Vancouver Canucks put in a game effort Tuesday — despite two more injured players in Dan Hamhuis and Chris Higgins, two new faces in Raphael Diaz and Pascal Pelletier and an ailing captain in their depleted lineup — but still fell 3-1 to the Boston Bruins. They’re barely eighth in the Western Conference and haven’t had five-straight regulation losses since March 1999. Henrik and Daniel Sedin weren’t even drafted back then.

1. CAPTAIN COURAGEOUS TOO GRACIOUS?

‘All Hail Hank’ has become a familiar refrain in Vancouver. And why not? Henrik Sedin has been everything the Canucks could ask for in the guy who dons the ‘C’. He’s accountable, approachable and amiable. But now he’s something else. He’s hurt.

Henrik took one face-off Tuesday. He was doubled over in obvious pain on the bench. During one second-period shift, he hit the brakes in the neutral zone while attempting a pass and put his left arm up to protect injured ribs. He even left the bench at one point to walk off the pain after being spun around. And instead of calling it a night, he finished the game and that alone should end any debate that the centre isn’t tough enough and can’t hold his own in physical confrontations. To what degree he’s ailing we’ll never really know because the team will only call it an “upper-body injury”, but even bruised ribs make it hard to breathe and the backward motion on a draw strains the rib cartilage even more. And any contact in that area can ramp up the pain to a ridiculous level. No wonder he didn’t have a point or shot in 20:30 of ice time against the Bruins. He rationalized playing on because the depleted Canucks need scoring, but he hasn’t scored in 17 games. Daniel also hasn’t scored in 17, despite six shots, 11 shot attempts Tuesday and missing on a shorthand breakaway before Jarome Iginla scored on the ensuring rush to make it 2-1.

It was a gutsy effort by Henrik, but he probably should have been shut down — even though he said he wouldn’t have been out there if he couldn’t compete. That’s what captains say, that’s what they do. The Canucks are going to be in a dogfight to advance to postseason play and aggravating the injury — or having that vulnerability exposed in Sochi when he represents Sweden in the Olympic tournament — should set off some alarm bells. Should he even be in Russia in what will probably be his last Games? To him it’s a no-brainer, so was playing on in Boston. He knew the club had few roster options down the middle with the versatile Mike Santorelli lost to season-ending shoulder surgery and Brad Richardson nursing an injury. Even Chris Higgins, who has played centre, was injured Monday in Detroit and unavailable Tuesday. Henrik was hurt Jan. 16 in Phoenix when he took a third-period stick to the ribs from Martin Hanzal. His iron-man streak of 679 games — the second-longest active run — ended five days later when he didn’t play in Edmonton.

“He’s trying to give us everything he has,” said winger Zack Kassian. “He wants to do anything to help the team and give him a lot of credit for battling out there.”

Credit for sure. And also concern.

2. WHO’S BETWEEN PIPES IN MONTREAL?

Let’s give Roberto Luongo credit for owning it at the TD Garden — “it’s 100 per cent on me” — in what has been his personal House of Horrors. He had to be the difference to keep it close and hope the Canucks could muster some offence to shock the Bruins in Beantown. And when you’re not winning, it’s not just about a lack of goals. It’s about the pressure to make all the right plays and for the goaltender to make the right stop at the right time. When Daniel Paille went backhand off a breakaway effort between the pads to make it 3-1, with the Canucks caught on a back-end change, it stung more than it should have. That’s what happens when you know the Canucks aren’t capable of mounting a third-period charge, even when healthier.

“To me, it changes when we need to make a play and need another save from Louie,” said Canucks coach John Tortorella. “That is the game tonight. Both teams are pretty even in chances and we don’t get one or two saves. They do.”

Despite five-straight losses, Eddie Lack has three 1-0 losses in that span and his trio of spectacular saves off Darren Helm on Monday kept the Canucks within striking range of the Red Wings. Lack has been outplaying Luongo of late and if the starter is owing up to not having his game in place, then why not go to Lack on Thursday? Give Luongo a break and the Hockey Night in Canada start in Toronto on Saturday before he jets to Sochi. Can’t hurt.

3. SIFTING THROUGH THE RUBBLE

Tortorella didn’t complain about the effort Tuesday because most players gave what they had. However, you couldn’t find much of the veteran core — including the goalless Alex Burrows playing a season-low 13:30 and having no shots, Ryan Kesler playing 21:57 and having one shot — but there were some silver linings on another dark night. David Booth made a bad pass to a Bruin that sprung Paille on his breakaway goal, but the winger was involved with three shots and six hits. Raphael Diaz scored his debut and logged a game-high 25:26 after being acquired from the Canadiens for Dale Weise.

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